Railway-brake hanger



J. M. SUMMERS.

RAILWAY BRAKE HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.18, 1920.

Patented July 26, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAILWAY-BRAKE HANGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1921.

Application filed October 18, 1920. Serial No. 417,733.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. MILLS SUMMERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-BrakeHangers; and I .do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to brake hangers and has been designed primarily to prevent the breakage'incident to the forms of hangers now in general use.

An object of the invention is the production of a hanger which takes up all excess1ve clearances in the brake head, thereby reducing chattering of the shoe on the wheel.

Another object of my invention is to produce a hanger, the transverse support ng arm of which is beamlike in construction,

being provided with a relatively high web portion and novel flanges forming relatively wide bearing surfaces for supporting the brake head.

A further object of my invention resides in the method of producing a brake hanger from substantially uniform cross sectional material or stock, said method consisting in depressing an intermediate portion of the material so as to form a constricted web of an increased depth, and enlarging the oppositely disposed flanges to a maximum degree of supporting strength.

With these and other objects in view the invention further consists in the production of a hanger capable of being used with any standard brake head, wherein convenience of assembling, comparatively low cost of production, simplicity of manufacture and maximum efficiency are essential prerequisites.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment of my invention in the form best known to me at the present time, and in which corresponding referenc characters designate similar parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved hanger as applied to a brake head; Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the manner in which the respective hanger and brake head are assembled; v.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the hanger detached;

. percentage of the Fig. 4 is an end view thereof;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view through the transverse supporting arm or beam on the line 55 of Fig. 3; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are modifications thereof.

In practice at the present time great annoyance is experienced through the ineffective mannerv in which the brake head is supported upon the hanger.

It has been found in practice that a large failures occur at the bends of the U-hanger and along the transverse supporting arm thereof, due primarily to the fact that the present form of hanger does not fill the elongated hole in the head thereby causing the slack to be taken up with the consequent hammer blow and excessive abrasion.

It is to overcome these andsimilar diificulties that I have dwigned the'novel form of railway brake hanger now to be described in detail, and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

he hanger 1 comprises relatively spaced side arms 2 formed at their upper ends with the enlarged eyes 3 through which suitable fastening devices pass for securing the hanger to the car or truck side-frame, as will be understood.

transverse supporting arm or beam section formed integral with the side arms 2 is indicated by the numeral 4, and as shown is of substantially an I-beam construction.

The beam section extends up into the side arms as indicated at 5, and serves to materially strengthen the bends 6 of the hanger.

The shape of themater'ial from which the hanger is made may be of substantially uniform cross sectional area. The transverse arm or beam 4 as shown, is formed by depressin opposite sides thereof into a web portion the depth of which latter is thus materially increased while its width is ge duced or constricted as clearly shown by As a result of depressing the sides of the material into the web section 7, a relatively increased amount of metal is forced into the upper and lower portions of the beam so as to form upper and lower enlarged flanges 8.

These flanges 8 are formed with curved faces 9 which constitute the bearing sun faces adapted to co-aet with the openin in the brake head to be hereinafter descri ed. The edges or ribs of these flanges are indicated at 10.

. tion.

a portion 7 provides relatively wide bearing the curvature thereof as indicated by the radii a and 7) may be of dimensions corresponding with the standard Master Car Builders brake head, or otherwise varied to conform to the dimensions of the opening into which the hanger is to be positioned.

surfaces. and

It will be obvious that a maximum bearing contact is obtained by this construction, thereby reducing abrasion to a minimum.

The brake head 11 is of a conventional standard type, suitably mounted upon the brake beam 12, and provided with the usual brake shoe 13 and retaining key 14. I

Formed in the brake head is an opening 15 designed to receive the transverse arm or beam 4 of the hanger... This opening 15 is elongated in the Master Car Builders standard practice, and is provided at one side with an intersecting slot 16, the said slot being of a width greater than that of the beam 4, but less than thedepth of said beam and designed to permit entry of the hanger into the brake head as shown in Fig. 2. The openlng 15 is formed so as to provide curvedbearing supporting surfaces at the upper and lower sides thereof. These surfaces co-act with the bearing surfaces 9 provided on the flanges 8 in supporting the hanger so as to permit it to properly func- These co-actin'g bearing surfaces are highly advantageous in effecting a free and easy movement of the brake head and at the same time provide increased bearing areas with consequent reduction in abrasion.

To assemble the device, the hanger is slid through the intersecting slot 16 into the opening 15 as shown in Fig. 2. The hanger is then turned to substantially vertical position as shown in Fig-.1, thereby permitting the bearing surfaces 9 of the flanges 8 to move into operative contact with the bearing surfaces of the opening. When in this position (see Fig. 1), the brake head is securely locked upon the hanger and it cannot be removed unless it is again turned to the horizontal position and drawn through the slot 16 intersectlng the opening 15 in the brake head.

In practice numerous advantages are derived from this construction in that the brake head cannot become dislodged should the brake shoe be lost, or the key become detached. Other advantages follow from the use of my improved hanger in that it is interchangeable with the common types of brake hangers and can be readily applied to the brake head.

While I have shown and particularly deweb portion, flanges, the outer surfaces of each flange be-,

adapted for use scribed my invention as it will be underwith the U-type of hanger,

stood that it is equally applicable to the link and similar forms of railway hangers which may be used.

In Figs. 6 and? I have shownmodifications illustrating the cross sectional area of the material from which the hanger, and more particularly the transverse supporting arm, may be made. It will be understood that these and other forms can be used in facilitating the manufacture of the hanger from readily produced stock.

Other changes and variations commensurate with thescope of the invention herein set forth may be resorted to in actual practice, and I do not therefore limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and bearing surfaces for freely supporting a brake head.

3. A railway brake hanger comprising spaced side arms and a transverse beam connecting the side arms, said beam including a constricted and relatively deep web portion, and oppositely arranged flanges forming relatively wide bearin surfaces adapted to support .a brake hea 4.. A railway brake hanger comprising spaced side arms and an integral transverse beam connecting the side arms, said beam including a restricted and relatively deep and oppositely arranged in curved to form bearings for supporting a rake head.

5. A railway brake hanger comprising spaced side arms and a transverse beam connecting the side arms, said beam having adeep web portion and wide flanges or brake head supporting surfaces which are also adapted to form the bends of the hanger and extend upwardly into the aforesaid side arms.

6. A railway brake hanger comprising spaced side arms and a transverse beam connecting the side arms, said beam having relatively wide flanges, the outer surfaces of which are slightly curved to form a bearing support for a brake head.

7. A brake head provided with an opening having a relatively large bearing surface therein, a slot intersecting said opening,

and relatively deep web portion and a flange provided with a relatively large bearing surface comforming to the bearing surface in the brake head, whereby the said transverse beam of the hanger can be insorted through the aforesaid slot, and turned within the said opening so as to bring the bearing surface into contact with the bearing surface of the brake head for taking up the excessive clearance in the opening.

8. A brake head provided with an opening having relatively large bearing surfaces therein, a slot intersecting said opening, and a hanger including spaced side arms and a transverse connecting beam therefor, said beam being formed with a relatively narrow and deep" web portion and oppositely arranged fianges forming relatively large bearing surfaces conforming to the bearin surfaces in the brake head, whereby the said transverse beam of the hanger can be insei'ted through aforesaid slot and turned within the opening so as to bring the said bearing surfaces 1nto cooperative contact with the aforesaid bearing surfaces of the brake head for taking up the excessive clearance in the opening.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of a subscribing witness.

J. MILLS SUMMERS. Witness:

E. W. SUMMERS. 

